What Does Jeremiah 46:15 Mean?
Why are your mighty ones swept away? They did not stand, because the LORD pushed them.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.THE KEY
The mighty are swept from their footing because strength cannot make them stand when the LORD drives them.
THE MEANING
The strength you count on can be swept away. Even the powerful lose their footing when the LORD drives them back; the verse names divine force as the cause of their collapse.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that strength or status can make anyone untouchable before the LORD.
THE ROOT
אֲבִירֶיךָ
ʾabbîreḵā
GROWS FROM
אבר
Strength or vigor; this word family also names a wing or pinion.
“valiant men” in this verse is ʾabbîreḵā. The word for the valiant belongs to a family that also names a wing or pinion, giving strength an image of force in motion. Yet here even that strength cannot keep its footing.
ALSO GROWS
ʾabbîr: A mighty one, a strong one.
אַבִּיר
This is the word used for the men whose strength fails to hold them in place.
ʾēver: Wing or pinion.
אֵבֶר
The shared word family links might with the force of a wing, while the verse shows that power cannot guarantee stability.
עָמַד
ʿāmad
GROWS FROM
עמד
To stand, remain in place, or take one’s position.
The root behind “stood not” also forms מַעֲמָד, a standing place or station. The verse describes more than failing to fight: their position gives way under the LORD’s driving force.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāmad: To stand or remain in place.
עָמַד
This is the verb Jeremiah uses for the mighty men who cannot hold their ground.
maʿămād: A standing place, station, or position.
מַעֲמָד
This noun makes the lost footing in the verse concrete: their place cannot be secured by strength alone.
THE PATTERN
Human strength cannot secure a lasting footing when the LORD overturns it.
He guards the feet of his faithful ones, and the wicked are hushed in darkness; for no man prevails by strength.No king is delivered by the multitude of an army; a mighty one is not snatched free by much strength.He has pulled the mighty down from their seats, and lifted up the low.THE THREAD
If you, LORD, mark crookednesses, O Lord, who can stand?Jeremiah says the mighty do not stand when the LORD drives them; Psalm 130 uses the same Hebrew root, עמד, to ask who can stand before the LORD. The shared verb opens the verse beyond military defeat: human footing is never self-secured.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us